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Timonium Cub Scouts Learn About Pet Care

Members of Pack 832 earn their Belt Loops and Pins in the new Pet Care achievement.

The Cub Scouts in Pack 832 look 20 pounds heavier when they’re suited up.

Evan Cuddington, a fourth grader at , is decorated like an Army general with all his badges, metal belt loops, knots, pins and tassels. Evan has been scouting for four years, but the tangible evidence of his accomplishments doesn’t weigh him down.

In fact, his most recent decorations had him running around the backyard with his dog.

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Evan and 12 of his fellow Cub Scouts have earned Pet Care belt loops, and six of them did the extra work to earn the Pet Care pin. The Cub Scouts introduced the Pet Care achievement in 2009. The Pet Care belt loop requires scouts to care for their pets for two weeks, research facts about the animals and present a poster of their design.

To achieve the Pet Care pin, however, the scouts must also accomplish other tasks, such as training a pet to obey a command, visiting an animal shelter or touring a pet store to learn about different kinds of pets and their diets. They can also talk to a veterinarian about his or her career, research presidents’ pets that have lived in the White House, and attend a pet show. There are 12 such activities they can choose from to earn their pin.

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“When you do the minimum requirement for something, you get the belt loop,” said Turk Cuddington, Evan’s father and the cub master for Pack 832. “When you take it a little bit further, you get the pin.”

Danny Jacobs, a third grader at , is one of the scouts who took it further. Danny cares for his 15-pound rabbit named Foot-Foot, and Danny’s attention to his rabbit may very well be saving its life.

“He’s been very sick lately and we’re trying to pull him through. He’s had this problem before, but he managed to make it through before,” Danny said. 

Foot-Foot stopped eating recently, as he did once before in the fall, and he has needed to be syringe-fed and medicated.

“Danny picked up on it first this time,” said Danny’s mother, Jani Jacobs, who was impressed that her son noticed that something was amiss with the rabbit. Danny had been in charge of feeding Foot-Foot and cleaning up after him to earn his Pet Care belt loop, and he took note when the rabbit seemed to be ill.

“Danny’s very conscious of input versus output,” said Jani, trying to make light of Foot-Foot’s intestinal problems. “He’s really conscious of what’s going on with the rabbit.”

Foot-Foot is named after a joke about three rabbits, one of whom dies after eating a bad carrot.  The punch-line has to do with having “one foot in the grave.” The Foot-Foot in the joke is a rabbit that survives, and Danny is hoping his Foot-Foot will be as lucky.

Konner Munn, also in third grade at , is another scout that takes his pet duties seriously. “He loves animals, and he does really well with them,” said Konner’s mother, Crystal Munn. “He takes the responsibility. I’ve never had to ask him if he’s fed the dog.”

Konner takes care of his dog Daisy, but also helps out on his grandparents’ farm on weekends. “I take care of a lot of different animals,” said Konner. “I take care of horses, dogs and cats. I go every Saturday and Sunday to feed the horses at my Grandma’s farm. They eat dessert.”

Crystal clarified, "They eat sweet feed." 

Crystal said that Konner was an integral part in choosing their dog Daisy as a pet in the first place. “Before we got her, he helped to research what kind of dog to get and why,” Crystal said. Konner helped to choose a Rhodesian Ridgeback because of the breed’s energetic personality.

 “I do everything with her,” said Konner proudly. “I feed her, take her for walks, and pick up her poop. I do it all the time.”

As for Evan, he continues to feed his dog Baron every night, even though Evan’s two weeks of caring for him to earn the belt loop are over. Baron himself has held onto the lessons—he eagerly showed an audience how he could sit, lay down, stand up and shake paws, with Evan at the helm giving the orders, a dog treat in hand.

Maybe somebody should give that dog a belt loop.

Congratulations to the following Cub Scouts of Pack 832, who earned their Pet Care belt loop.  If their name is starred, they also earned their pin:

  • Matt Bullinger
  • Jeffrey Cournoyer
  • Evan Cuddington*
  • Josh Hill
  • Anthony Ireson
  • Danny Jacobs*
  • Elliot Maderazo*
  • Ben Mapp
  • Konner Munn*
  • Luke Schwengel
  • Justin Shipley
  • Christopher Wanis*
  • Emilio Wanis*
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